Category Archives: art

Winter Is Over

Posted on April 8, 2023 by JE

The Spring Equinox notwithstanding, I know that winter has ended when the westering sun doesn’t reach through the southern window of my bookroom to punch me in the eye as I’m writing on my computer. That happens sometime around the … Continue reading →

Posted in art, astronomy, writing | Comments Off on Winter Is Over

The Hood, the Bad, and the Bitey

Posted on April 8, 2023 by JE

I was looking up something else in Cleasby & Vigfusson’s Old Norse dictionary when my eye fell on gríma, meaning “a kind of hood or cowl”; by extension “the night”. A lot of badasses, starting with Óðin, are called Grímr … Continue reading →

Posted in art, fantasy, fantasy art, Myth & Legend, words | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Hood, the Bad, and the Bitey

The Weird of the Worm

Posted on March 19, 2023 by JE

Reading Snorri’s account of Ragnarǫkr this noon over blunch, and I was struck by this poetic phrase in Snorri’s prose: Þórr berr banaorð af Miðgarðsormi “Thor bears the baneword from Midgard’s Serpent”. Old Norse orð is cognate with English word, … Continue reading →

Posted in art, books, fantasy, fantasy art, Morlock, Myth & Legend, words | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Weird of the Worm

Old Moon 1 & 2

Posted on March 9, 2023 by JE

These monochrome beauties came in the mail today.

Posted in art, books, fantasy, fantasy art, sword-and-sorcery, writing | Comments Off on Old Moon 1 & 2

The AI of the Beholder

Posted on March 6, 2023 by JE

I swear, if I see another article anthropomorphizing/deifying/demonizing AI, I will… well, not read it, I guess. This trendlet is really getting tedious. Adam Gopnik has something in the New Yorker this week about AI, which isn’t completely wrongheaded but … Continue reading →

Posted in AI is a misnomer, art, writing | Comments Off on The AI of the Beholder

The Tedium of Infinity

Posted on February 24, 2023 by JE

Maybe the suits at Marvel should have read Niven’s “All the Myriad Ways” before going all-in on the Multiverse. It’s not as if you can’t make a good movie with the concept (e.g. INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE), but it does have … Continue reading →

Posted in art, sff | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Tedium of Infinity

The Strife of Camlann

Posted on January 10, 2023 by JE

Mordred vs. Arthur (by Arthur Rackham).

Posted in Adventures in the Public Domain, art, fantasy, fantasy art, Myth & Legend | Comments Off on The Strife of Camlann

Sky Beasts of the Deep Past!

Posted on January 5, 2023 by JE

Some interesting stuff at the Grauniad today. “Ancient writing system” is something of a misnomer. It seems to be a lunar calendar, with relevance for ancient astronomy. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/05/amateur-archaeologist-uncovers-ice-age-writing-system

Posted in ancient art, art, astronomy | Comments Off on Sky Beasts of the Deep Past!

Forever Blowing Bubbles

Posted on January 2, 2023 by JE

Frank Kelly Freas, “The Piper”–a WEIRD TALES cover in 1950 and 1990. (See Deuce Richardson’s writeup at the DMR Books site.)

Posted in art, fantasy, fantasy art, Myth & Legend | Tagged | Comments Off on Forever Blowing Bubbles

“Look Up, Not Down!”

Posted on January 1, 2023 by JE

Κύκλοψ: βλέπετ᾽ ἄνω καὶ μὴ κάτω. Χορός: ἰδού: πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν Δί᾽ ἀνακεκύφαμεντά τ᾽ ἄστρα, καὶ τὸν Ὠρίωνα δέρκομαι. —Euripides, Cyclops Cyclops: Look up, not down. Chorus: I am looking up! I’m looking ‘way up!

Posted in ancient art, art, fantasy, fantasy art, Myth & Legend | Comments Off on “Look Up, Not Down!”